Chapter 2620: 2521.2427 Useless Data (Alliance Leader Randy is already nine years old, extra chapter 2)

2521.2427 Useless Data (Alliance Leader Randy is already nine years old, extra chapter 2)

My name is Zheng Ren.

「Uncle Zheng, hello. 」 Shi Jian reached out his hand.

His hands were somewhat pallid and thin, veins showing blue under the skin but not bulging even where the skin was thin. Like moss struggling to grow in rock crevices, it could never become a towering tree.

His muscles had atrophied, so thin that you could see his bones.

「Call me brother. 」 Zheng Ren smiled and said to Shi Jian.

「You're so old……」

「Call me brother. 」

「Brother Zheng, hello. 」

「That's right. 」 Zheng Ren was happy and sincerely shook hands with Shi Jian.

Their hands touched, and Zheng Ren could feel his skin temperature was very low, pulse faint and rapid.

His physical condition was quite poor, a state of cachexia, estimated lifespan less than one month.

「Shi Jian……」

「Just call me Little Stone, that's what my mom calls me. 」 Shi Jian's voice was a little hoarse; he looked at Zheng Ren and asked softly, 「Brother Zheng, can you lend me your phone to play for a while? 」

「Huh? 」 Zheng Ren froze for a moment.

「I haven't played with a phone in a long time. 」 Shi Jian said somewhat gloomily.

「What about your phone? 」 Zheng Ren chuckled, not refusing the child's kindness, 「But there aren't any games on my phone, and downloading now would be too late. 」

「It's fine, I just want to have a look. 」 Shi Jian said, 「Any little game, playing for a few minutes is enough. 」

「I remember half a year ago you said you wanted to play ranked matches and such. 」 Zheng Ren saw Little Stone holding the phone, his eyes sparkling with crystal-clear light, and asked softly.

「My mom's phone is gone, so I gave her mine to use. 」 Little Stone's hands were thin and weak, but his speed wasn't slow; if it weren't for the cachexia affecting his body, he'd probably not be slower than Su Yun.

「Oh? You don't use QQ to chat anymore? 」

「Yeah, I know I won't live much longer, so there's no need to leave a deeper impression on classmates and friends. Otherwise, if I died, they'd be very sad. 」 Shi Jian said in a hoarse voice, 「Being alive is quite interesting, it's really a pity. 」

「……」

Zheng Ren was speechless, watching the light and shadow flicker on the phone screen, casting a glow on Little Stone's face, and hearing his words, he felt a sigh in his heart.

「Brother, your phone doesn't even have a startup password? 」

「Yeah, setting a startup password is too troublesome. 」 Zheng Ren said.

「There are still people as lazy as you. 」 Little Stone said, 「Aren't you afraid others will look at your phone? 」

「I rarely use my phone. 」 Zheng Ren thought, indeed he's different from many people nowadays. Not to mention not needing a power bank, a single phone battery charge can last two or three days. The main use is chatting with Yi Ren, besides that just sending videos.

「Really, only old people do this, right? Calling you uncle would be correct. 」 Little Stone played Snake, his happy smile looking sweet, 「What era is this, hardly using phones. Uncle… brother, if you keep going like this you'll be left behind by the times. 」

Tch, the little brat talks like Su Yun that guy, a bit snarky, speaking to adults like that.

Zheng Ren smiled watching Little Stone play with the phone, saying nothing; the more he watched, the more he felt it a pity. His heart felt empty, as if something was missing.

「Little Stone, how are you playing with uncle's phone. 」 The woman came back, speaking in a gentle 「reprimand」.

「It's fine, he helped me adjust the screen resolution, I wouldn't mess it up. 」 Zheng Ren said with a smile.

Shi Jian stared for a moment, his eyes flicking to Zheng Ren, with a hint of mischief.

「Oh. 」 The woman didn't expose this simple, couldn't-be-simpler lie, 「Doctor Zheng, we're going home. 」

「Wait a moment, may I ask if Little Stone's videos are here? 」

The woman nodded, pulled out the storage box from under the bed, and said, 「Inside are all his videos and past medical records; I've marked the times. 」

Zheng Ren looked at the full box, heavier than Little Stone, and was stunned for a moment.

「Doctor Zheng, if you're interested, I'll give you all of it. 」 Wen Xiaonuan said, 「I'm bringing Little Stone home anyway; this box is too heavy, I'll have to come back several times to fetch it. 」

Zheng Ren knew this was because they didn't want to continue treatment, so keeping these documents and past records was useless; bringing them home would only evoke memories of the person, utterly useless.

He didn't say anything, just nodded, went out and found a small flat cart for garbage, and lifted the box onto it.

He greeted the nurses in the ward, said he'd return the box later, and Zheng Ren came to Shi Jian's side.

「Brother, I'm returning the phone. 」 Little Stone had played Snake for a while, like he'd been charged for a few minutes, his whole spirit lifted a bit.

Zheng Ren took the phone, gave Little Stone a deep look.

Wen Xiaonuan was tidying up, and Shi Jian said softly, 「Thank you for coming to see me, goodbye. 」

「Yeah, goodbye. 」

「This time it's really goodbye. 」 Little Stone murmured softly.

Zheng Ren's heart tightened, his brows furrowed.

But what Shi Jian said wasn't wrong; a few days, a few dozen days, time flies like a white horse passing a gap. This meeting truly was the last time we'd see each other.

Would it? Zheng Ren looked at the box placed on the flat cart outside, his eyebrows like knives, raised.

He didn't look back at Shi Jian, but raised his hand, waved it, and then pulled the flat cart away.

Because of the flat cart, taking the elevator wasn't convenient; after waiting a long time, the elevator finally arrived and he returned to the Intervention Department.

「Boss, are you just messing around with junk? Speaking of which, selling scrap paper nowadays can't even make a living, unlike before. 」 Su Yun saw the box and asked casually.

「That child's data. 」 Zheng Ren said, 「The family gave up on it, I brought it back to have a look. 」

「……」

This time even Su Yun was speechless.

The family gave up, and it's still a patient who had already been in late-stage cancer half a year ago. Bringing back a mountain's worth of data, is it meaningful?

He looked at Zheng Ren, bewildered, his eyes full of questions.

「Boss Zheng, what child? 」

「Half a year ago, by chance I encountered a child with late-stage cancer; now he's already terminal, likely unable to live a month. 」 Zheng Ren said very calmly, he took out the data. Just as Wen Xiaonuan said, the data was meticulously sorted in chronological order, with labels, making it easy to find a particular date's data.

Zheng Ren has been practicing medicine for many years and has seen all kinds of strange patient families. Basically, most people don't bring complete original documents; fewer than 10% manage to bring all the films.

I've never seen anyone like Wen Xiaonuan before.

"Wow, what a considerate patient family member." Lin Yuan also saw through it and exclaimed admiringly.

"Gurney, help me send it to Inpatient Ward Three, th Floor, Oncology Department Three." Zheng Ren tossed the menial task to Lin Yuan.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to step forward to see what was happening, Zheng Lao Ban threw him out to work.

She pulled the gurney out of the office with a bitter, helpless expression.